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<title>The Best-Laid Plans of Mycelium and Men by Leopardmask</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27227797">The Best-Laid Plans of Mycelium and Men</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leopardmask/pseuds/Leopardmask'>Leopardmask</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hermitcraft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>1v1 face-off, Action Scene, Decked Out Powers AU, Gen, Guerilla Tactics, Mycelium Resistance, Non-human hermits - Freeform, Superpower Showcase, always assume respawn exists in my fics unless proven otherwise, season 7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:08:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,036</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27227797</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leopardmask/pseuds/Leopardmask</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Resistance has the power of decay on their side.<br/>The HEP has powers to defend themselves.</p><p>Set in the <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KYSXFdqaKsokceRq-2xwmxro4zq_zGFXuhQBhJFi-Tg/edit?usp=sharing">Decked Out Powers AU.</a></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Best-Laid Plans of Mycelium and Men</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
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  <div class="resolved">
    <p> </p>
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</div><p>Impulse crouched on a pillar of dirt, as close as he could get to the underside of the hollow landmass he was currently inside. He listened intently for sounds from above. Grian had taken an invisibility potion and was keeping watch.</p><p> </p><p><em> Tap, tap ta-tap tap. </em> Grian hit the ground nearby in a unique pattern, telling Impulse the coast was clear. Impulse slapped the dirt a couple times to acknowledge, then pressed his hands against it, feeling the roots extend from his palms and fingertips and anchor him to the land.</p><p> </p><p>Impulse hadn’t used this power much before, but he had mentioned it in a Resistance meeting: the power to poison the ground, to kill off grass and plants around himself through roots he sent down. Or up, as the case may be. It was Grian’s idea to take advantage of the hollow landscaping job at the edge of the island and get rid of the grass around the HEP headquarters from below.</p><p> </p><p>He could feel power flowing, pushing outward to kill more and more of the grass. He heard Grian digging up some of the dirt, placing mycelium here and there so it could consume the dead plant matter and spread quickly. All according to plan.</p><p> </p><p>A sudden, dreadful noise right above him almost startled Impulse off his tower, his rooted hands the only things keeping him in place. It sounded like a wither had been summoned right next to him. The sound was immediately followed by something launching, exploding, and Grian’s cry of pain. Two sets of footsteps ran to the edge of the mountain. A few moments later, Impulse just barely heard a splash in the ocean below. He kept listening, puffer spines on full display.</p><p> </p><p>The other set of footsteps paced above him, marking out the radius of decay he had spread. The mycelium Grian had just placed was dug up once more and replaced. Impulse kept his power going for a moment longer, just enough to poison the grass that had surely been put there, then started to pull his roots back.</p><p> </p><p>A gasp of breath drew Impulse’s attention downward. Climbing out of the water onto the narrow spit of land below was a figure, invisible except for the water streaming off. “Grian?” Impulse whispered as loudly as he dared.</p><p> </p><p>“Impulse!” Grian whispered back frantically. “We gotta leave, <em> now. </em> X surprised me. He knows we’re up to something.”</p><p> </p><p>Impulse made a face. At least it was Xisuma and not Cub or Keralis. He hadn’t been keeping track of the specifics, but he’d seen the leaderboards. He tugged at his hands. Still rooted for the moment. “I can’t leave yet, dude! I’m trying! I’ll get out as soon as I can, you go without me.”</p><p> </p><p>"I don't want to just-" Grian started to protest. He must have tried to stand, because Impulse heard him fall again.</p><p> </p><p>“You okay, man?” Impulse asked, concerned.</p><p> </p><p>“Wither,” Grian grunted. “S’fine.”</p><p> </p><p>The footsteps stopped above him. Impulse frantically started tugging at his hands.</p><p> </p><p>The dirt above him exploded. Impulse was knocked off his tower with a yelp, half surprise, half pain. The now-broken poison roots retreated back into his hands as he splashed down into the water.</p><p> </p><p>He looked up to see Xisuma standing on the crumbled remains of the pillar. Two Wither-like heads on Xisuma’s shoulders looked around independently for their target.</p><p> </p><p>They found Grian first, from his involuntary whimper at the wither effect still wracking him. With no hesitation, Xisuma reached out his hand and shot another skull at the sound. A death message buzzed the communicators, and Grian’s inventory exploded onto the ground in an impressive pile of mycelium.</p><p> </p><p>“Ugh, of course...” Xisuma muttered, shooting another skull at the mycelium to blow it up.</p><p> </p><p>Impulse ducked fully underwater while Xisuma was distracted, feeling conduit-power gill slits open on his neck in response. He let all his air out in a rush, letting the gills take over his breathing. He didn’t want bubbles revealing him. He backed up under a ledge, focusing his gaze on Xisuma. One second, two, and a flash - Xisuma jerked and fell. He flipped around and glided onto one of the other ledges, looking around with all three heads for the source of the attack. Impulse drifted farther back, preparing for another shot. He could see perfectly down here, but to anyone else it was dark, hiding his position as he-</p><p> </p><p>A skull shot past him, breaking his concentration. His spines, which had only just started to flatten, flared out again. How did Xisuma know where- oh. Impulse almost facepalmed. Because everything looked lit up to him, he had forgotten that he <em> glowed </em> underwater. Brightly.</p><p> </p><p>Another skull entered the water. Impulse waved his hand, moving water and currents to redirect the skull around and back out toward Xisuma. He didn’t wait to see if Xisuma dodged it. Instead he dove, using his power over the water to push himself along faster than anyone could swim.</p><p> </p><p>Xisuma followed him outside, diving under the mountain and then popping out of the water to move faster with elytra. He fired again. Impulse used the water to dodge, then sent up another tendril of water as a shield. He tracked Xisuma’s movements across the sky, hoping to get another laser shot, but he couldn’t keep his eyes on Xisuma long enough while also deflecting the incoming skull shots. Finally, Impulse gave up, diving back underwater and speeding north.</p><p> </p><p>When he saw Impulse boost himself back onto his base on a short pillar of water, Xisuma backed off. No need to attack people in their own homes.</p><p> </p><p>Xisuma flew back to the HEP building and surveyed the damage. The grass wasn’t growing back into the poisoned circle, so he started digging it out to replace with new grass. He might have to see if he could set up a guard schedule, so this wouldn’t happen again - after all, the culprit was the district’s closest neighbor. In the meantime, he decided he would also make a floor to the inner mountain, at sea level. The HEP could use the extra space, and it would make it just that much harder for anyone else to sneak in from below.</p><p></p><div>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Apparently Xisuma has gotten <i>five more sets</i> in the past two days lol - this is set at a point just before then, while he has just Wither and Desert sets and hasn't filled in the inside of the mountain yet :P</p></blockquote></div></div>
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